The invention concerns apparatus for disposing a map or the like about a bicycle such that the map can be easily viewed by a bicycle rider while riding the bicycle.
Bicycle riders while riding a bicycle for pleasure or as a race participant have a need for ready access to a map or written directions for viewing. Oftentimes, as in a bicycle road race, one's elapsed time is critical. Valuable time can be lost and an unsafe condition can be created when the rider must pull the map from a pocket or pouch and open the map for viewing. At best, this type of maneuver is awkward if not impossible to perform. Even further, the maneuver is unsafe to perform by either a race participant or a pleasure rider.
Various devices have been proposed for holding a map such that it can be easily viewed by the rider. However the devices suffer from various disadvantages, for example: U.S. Pat. No. 436,403 discloses a bicycle book holder having one continuous wire bent into a spring-clamp device for holding the book in a stable open position about the bicycle handlebars.
U.s. Pat. No. 2,634,527 discloses a vehicle article holder having a flat supporting body and a clamping stirrup which is bent into a loop to overlie the front portion of the supporting body. The clamping stirrup is provided with a presser foot which presses particles such as tourist maps or the like against the upper surface of the supporting body. The device disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,634,527 is connected to the shank of the front fork of a bicycle by the screw which connects the handlebar with the shank.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,321,192 discloses a motorcycle pad holder having a rectangular shaped box with resilient clips on two sides of the box for holding maps or the like. The box has a compartment for holding pencils or other articles.
As indicated above, the above described devices suffer from various disadvantages, namely: the devices do not have an aerodynamic profile to reduce wind resistance; the devices do not provide apparatus for protecting the map against rain or the like; the devices, by using clamps to hold the maps in place, permit the maps to flop about in the wind; the devices are not easily attached and detached to and from the bicycle; the devices are not light in weight; and the devices do not provide apparatus for adjusting the viewing angle of the maps.
The present invention provides apparatus for disposing a map or the like about a bicycle which overcomes each of the above described disadvantages.